The Choice
by SugarfootThePony
Summary: Amy has now been left in charge of Heartland and is trying to run it the best she can, and with Ty as help she knows she can do it. Now a horse named Traveler has come and challenged all they believe. Now they must make a choice, does Traveler stay or go?
1. Chapter 1

The Choice

She stood at the gate which opened the entrance to Heartland and looked out upon the open road. Feeling anxious she wrapped her hair around her finger over and over, suddenly she heard footsteps and saw Ty, the stable hand, come over and sit beside her on the haystacks. "Hey Amy" he greeted her and adding a small wave.

She looked up and sighed "Oh hey Ty" she said, her voice slightly deflated as she looked back towards the gate.

Ty tilted his head slightly and said "Something wrong Amy?" he asked her, setting his hand on her arm and looking at her with genuine concern.

Amy perked up slightly as a small red truck pulling a horse trailer pulled in; she smiled and said "Not anymore. I was just waiting for a very special customer to arrive at Heartland safely" She walked towards the truck with a small piece of paper in her hands. "Tony!" she greeted with a smile as she saw a tall burly man step out of the truck and walk towards the horse trailer as it parked near the stables.

Tony turned around and smiled "Amy, so nice to see you. How have you been lately?" he said as he opened up the horse trailer. "I'm so happy you agreed to take Traveler on such short notice, I know he will thrive here. He needs…" he was interrupted by Amy a moment later.

"Oh I have all his needs, likes, and dislikes. Don't worry he will be taken good care of. Now let's get Traveler to his stall, just grab his lead rope and follow me" she said to him as she walked off. Tony grabbed the lead rope and followed Amy, leading a large dark bay horse with dark brown eyes and a white star on his forehead. Amy looked up at Traveler and saw the fear in his eyes, he was going to bolt! Amy grabbed the lead rope and before Tony could protest Traveler was tossing his head and twisting away. Amy pulled his head down sharply and walked him along, Traveler didn't bend to her will right away but he understood what was expected of him and followed Amy.

Tony was amazed "How could you tell he was going to try to get away?" he asked her, running up to her side. He looked at Traveler and smiled, wishing he could tell what his horse was thinking just like Amy could.

"Well i saw his eyes widen and his neck and shoulders tighten. It's more or less a thing you just have to watch for when a horse is in a new and unfamiliar place" she told him as she led Traveler into a large stall with fresh bedding, water filled bucket, and food filled bucket. This was hopefully the beginning of a good start with Traveler.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Amy stood in the middle of the corral with Traveler attached to the lead-rope, Freedom stood beside her on a smaller lead-rope. Traveler stood on the outer edge of the corral, ears pined and head high. Amy took a deep breath and began by clicking softly and pulling in some of the rope, closer to her and Freedom. Traveler resisted and pulled back with his head, he let out a small snort. Amy tried again but a little slower and tried to be as gentle as possible, Traveler still resisted but not as much and he much slightly closer to them.

Amy released part of Freedom's lead-rope and let him trot forward a couple steps, before Freedom got to close for comfort she tightened her grip on his lead-rope and Freedom stopped. Traveler shifted onto his hindquarters and reared up, ears flat and obviously protesting that a horse was in his comfort zone. Amy let him settle back down before pulling slightly on Traveler's lead-rope, causing him to walk forward. She watched his ears flatten but he did as he was told, then she released part of Freedom's lead-rope and let him go forward. As soon as Freedom went a horse sized distance Traveler reared up with a loud neigh and pawed the air with his hooves. Amy released a tiny part of his lead-rope and watched Traveler land and back up, ears flat and nostrils flaring.

Amy did a face palm as she realized she had let Freedom go to far, after all he wasn't the one with the horse problem. Freedom tilted his head, obviously wondering why Traveler was so against being near him. She sighed and tried again, but this time making sure Freedom didn't go too far. She watched for Traveler's reaction, which was small, as he pawed the ground a bit but didn't move. Amy cheered silently then decided that was enough for now and called out to Ty "Hey Ty! Can you take Freedom back to his stall? Give him a carrot or some oats for being a good sport and helping Traveler"

Ty nodded and said "Alright" then he clicked his tongue and Freedom went to him as Amy released his lead-rope. Amy waited until Ty and Freedom were out of sight before she walked Traveler back to his stall, once they got there she released him and never had she seen a horse so eager to go to his stall than Traveler. She grabbed a nearby feedbag and poured some into Traveler's feeding bucket. He waited until she had closed the gate and backed up before he went forward and began to eat.

Amy sighed and thought to herself "Well first day done, lets hope he does as well as he did today tomorrow. I could use the extra luck" she glanced to the sweater on the hay and hung it up on a rack next to Traveler's stall and said "I better not loose you, otherwise there is no way i'm getting Traveler out of his stall anytime soon" she laughed and added "I'm talking to a scarf..." she turned around and bumped into Ty.

Ty smiled and teased "Hey Amy, having a nice chat with the scarf i see." Amy blushed and said "It was just an after thought Ty, besides its true, i can't loose that scarf"

Ty chuckled "Yeah, whatever you say Amy. So whats for dinner? I'm starving and i bet you are too Amy" he said as he leaned against the stall door of another horse named Pegasus. He glanced into Traveler's stall then looked back at Amy.

Amy looked surprised and asked "Was i really out there all day? The time does fly when i'm with horses." she thought for a moment then added "Dinner is pasta Ty, you know that. Besides it was either that or leftovers and our leftovers are a little old" She smiled and leaned against the wall. Both soon walked off to the house, awaiting another day of work.


	3. Chapter 3

**(Sorry I haven't updated in a while guys, I lost the password to my account because my cousin changed it and he finally remembered what it was so now I have my account back. I'll try to update more often now and make the chapters longer)**

**(I'd like to add I don't own Heartland or any characters in Heartland, but i did create Traveler so I do own him. Enjoy the story! :) )**

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><p>Sitting down at the dinner table Amy immediately began to start eating the pasta, she had been planning to eat then shower and off to bed, Ty on the other hand had already made other plans for what they should do.<p>

Ty sat down across from her and began eating his own plate of pasta, satisfied he was just planning to eat; Amy let her guard down and became lost in her own thoughts of Traveler and what could've been counted as progress. Suddenly Ty spoke up, "So I saw you worked with Traveler today…" he started uneasily, glancing up from his pasta and trying to meet her gaze.

Amy looked up and nodded slightly, "Yeah…he's going to be a challenge for sure but I think I can handle it," she said almost coldly, trying to hint to Ty to drop the subject, sadly Ty would not be swayed.

"Do you think his problem is with horses or humans?" Ty asked quickly, keen not to lose her.

She looked up with tired eyes, "I think horses, Tony is a fine man and would never harm his horse for any reason…it's just not natural for a horse to not want to be with other horses, they're herd animals," she said sharply before stuffing another forkful of pasta into her mouth.

Ty looked down at his plate, obviously flustered, "I didn't mean anything against Tony, I was just asking…Amy…is something wrong?" he asked, his eyes filled with concern.

For a moment Amy didn't respond, a thick silence falling between them, then she spoke in a soft voice, "I'm worried Ty. I've never known a horse to not like other horses; I don't think I know how to work with Traveler! You saw how he reacted to Freedom, and Freedom is just a pony! Picture how he'll react to one of the other horses like Pegasus or Jasmine!" She stood up suddenly and started to clean her plate at the sink, "I just don't know Ty," she said sadly, looking out the window at the barn.

Ty got up and enveloped Amy in a hug, resting his chin on her head, "Don't worry Amy, you're the best person at working with horses…you'll find a way to help Traveler, you always find a way," he said in a soft voice.

Amy looked up and gave Ty a small hug then walked off to bed, giving a small wave before collapsing onto her bed.

Hours later Amy found herself still looking up at the ceiling, her thoughts a mixture of Ty and Traveler. Finally with a small grunt she got up, put her coat on over her pajamas, and went into the barn. Quietly she walked down past the row of stalls until she reached Traveler's, a long red scarf resting on a hook nearby. "Hey boy…." she whispered softly to the dark bay horse.

Traveler's ears pricked and as if on cue reared up in his stall with a shrill neigh, pawing at the air near the front of the stall and Amy. Amy refused to budge, she knew to win this horse's trust she couldn't back down from his challenge, otherwise there would be no hope for him. "I'm not going anywhere Traveler," she said in the same soft voice, trying her hardest to ignore his attempts to run her off from the other side of the stall.

For what seemed like hours Traveler paced the stall, occasionally rearing and letting out another scream, but around 2am a surprising silence fell upon the barn. Amy looked over at the dark bay horse, his ears were still flat but he remained still and quiet, his brown eyes searching her. She smiled slightly and moved slowly towards the door, seeing his ears prick forward she stopped then met his gaze.

Amy glanced over at the red scarf and gingerly took it off the hook, running the soft red fabric through her hands; Traveler stepped forward with a questioning snort as he saw his owner's scarf being handled.

"Don't worry...I'm just looking," Amy said as she put the scarf back on the hook, "I know it must mean a lot to you…the only piece of your owner that's here," Traveler's ears swiveled from facing forward to backward, then turning around and going to the very back of the stall.

"I guess that's my invitation to leave," she said almost sarcastically, "I'll see you tomorrow Traveler…" she said with a smile before walking away back into the house, finally feeling she could get some sleep.

A loud neigh jerked Amy from her dreams, her face paled as the neigh turned to a scream and the sound of clattering hooves following after. "Traveler!" she yelled as she scrambled out of bed, throwing on the first pair of jeans and her boots before bursting out the door and running into the barn.

There before her was Ty clutching a red feed bucket in his right hand and carrot in his left, an expression of fear and slight amusement on his face, turning around he saw Amy and put a hand on the back of his neck, "Oh hey Amy…" he said, trailing off as they both looked at a rather panicky Traveler.

"What is going on?" she asked sharply, grabbing the feed bucket from Ty then walked over to Traveler.

Ty stepped back and thought for a moment before responding, "Well I was just giving this nutcase his breakfast when he started freaking out, I might've touched his scarf by accident or something,"

Amy rolled her eyes as she slid the feed bucket inside the stall and closed the latch tight, "Ty honestly you should've waited for me, it's only his second day, he's not gonna be a unicorn on a rainbow, he's gonna be a grump," she said tartly, then laughed at his wounded expression, and added, "Just like you Ty, now come on, we'll feed the other horses then start working with Traveler!" with that she grabbed another feed bucket and went off to the feed room, Ty followed but reluctantly, still grumbling about how he could've handled it.


End file.
